Gaithersburg, MD, March 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Verus International, Inc. (“Verus” or the “Company”) (OTCQB: VRUS) is pleased to announce that it has received initial candy orders from new distributors, sporting goods and national chain customers. These orders mark a major milestone for the Company’s Big League Foods (“BLF”) subsidiary, representing the first sales featuring newly enhanced packaging and custom candy pieces in the shape of bats, gloves, hats, and baseballs. Verus will now have products covering all 30 Major League Baseball (“MLB”) teams, with the potential to have a presence in every major U.S. market by mid-2020.
TJX Companies (“TJX”) is the first national chain to feature the Company’s MLB line. TJX will take delivery of BLF gummy products at its national distribution centers for delivery within its 2,400 U.S. location network of TJ Maxx and Marshalls. This number has the potential to expand to over 3,100 locations with the addition of HomeGoods, a TJX division the Company is in current discussions with. Big Five Sporting Goods (“Big Five”) is the Company’s first sporting goods customer and first regional chain, with 434 locations throughout 11 western states.
In addition to these major chains, BLF also announced sales programs with Rally House in the Kansas City, St. Louis and Philadelphia markets; and Topicz, a convenience store distributor operating in 6 midwestern and southern states covering 900 locations.
“This surge in orders tells us one thing – our newly designed MLB products are resonating with chain store buyers looking for something different for 2020,” said Verus CEO Anshu Bhatnagar. “To attract the attention of TJX, one of the largest retailers in the world, is very encouraging this early in our sales cycle. We are currently in very active talks with more than a dozen additional chains and expect to add grocery, specialty, and drug store customers during the course of the MLB season, giving us a presence in multiple retailer categories.”
Operational Update
Due to extraordinarily high demand, the Company will not be able to provide complete channel fill during the first round of shipments to its new customers, but will scale up in subsequent delivery cycles. In terms of product mix, while the Company has shipped small quantities of ice cream recently, the level of interest in the MLB-candy lines has caused management to shift a majority of resources into the candy category, which is strongly outpacing initial expectations. The Company will begin receiving truckloads of finished product in the next few weeks and is planning for additional bulk supply to meet the accelerating demand.
“We have essentially sold out our first two production runs, so it already feels like we will be chasing a fast-moving target all year,” explained Bhatnagar. “The feedback we are getting from store buyers as we unveil our new products has been outstanding. This has really boosted our confidence that sales trends will continue to be positive as our products gain greater exposure. I can also confirm that we are in talks with three other professional leagues, so our goal to mitigate any seasonality from our BLF business is close to becoming a reality.”
Additionally, the current financial audit is progressing well, with the current plan of filing the delayed Fiscal 2019 Form 10-K by the end of March 2020, followed closely by the 1Q Fiscal 2020 Form 10-Q. Subsequent to regaining current status, the Company expects to finalize new commercial sources of funding to support the growing pipeline of orders.
Furthermore, regarding questions concerning the coronavirus, other than previously reported equipment delivery delays and some travel disruption, the Company has not been affected in its core revenue sources. The Company continues to back previous forecasts for triple digit revenue growth during 2020.
About Verus International
Verus is a global, emerging multi-line consumer packaged goods (CPG) company developing branded product lines in the U.S., South America, and the Middle East. The Company trades on the OTC market (OTCQB: VRUS). Investors can find real-time quotes and market information for the Company on www.otcmarkets.com. Additional information is also available at the Company’s website, www.verusfoods.com, and via the official Twitter feed @Verus_Foods and the Big League Foods subsidiary Twitter feed @BigLeagueFoods.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are identified by the use of the words “could,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “expect,” “may,” “continue,” “predict,” “potential,” “project” and similar expressions that are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that these plans, objectives, expectations or intentions will be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical experience and present expectations or projections. Actual results could differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements and the trading price for our common stock may fluctuate significantly. Forward-looking statements also are affected by the risk factors described in the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Contacts
Investor Contact:
MKR Group Inc.
Todd Kehrli or Mark Forney